Sub-prime lender in legally binding repo forbearance
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Blemain Finance could be the first mortgage lender to agree to not repossess a borrower through a legally binding deal.
According to the Financial Times, the sub-prime lender has agreed to not repossess Peter Bentley, a carpenter from Bridgend, for at least six years. It says this is believed to be the first ever such case.
Bentley had fallen into arrears as a result of caring for his sick father after his mother died. Blemain initially sought an order to repossess him and Bentley, represented by Cartel Client Review, tried to counter sue but once the lender became aware of his situation it sought an alternative deal.
Blemain will not charge interest on the £40,000 mortgage and has cut monthly payments from £549 to £150 until the capital has been paid off.
Blemain told the FT: “In light of Mr Bentley’s situation, we offered an alternative conditional payment arrangement in order to assist him and allow him time to resolve his current financial difficulties.
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Readers' comments (3)
Richard Brown, Managing Director, Moneynotion Limi | 11 Nov 2009 10:08 am
We had a widow client, in her 40s, whose Solicitor negotiated a similar deal with Barclays Bank circa 1990, except there were to be no capital or interest repayments either AND she was allowed to live in the house for the rest of her life.
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Anonymous | 11 Nov 2009 10:35 am
I wish the UCB were the same, I had a client who had to take a year of work as he had heart surgery, we both kept them upto date with copies of the letters from the surgeons and doctors but this made no impact what so ever.
They didnt care and pushed for possession. (
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Anonymous | 30 Nov 2009 10:47 pm
I had a similar deal offered to me by Blemain. They would put me on an "assisted sale scheme" and reduce my payments until my property was sold. They would cancel the eviction order blah blah blah provided that i provided evidence my property was on the market, which I did, and paid the first month's reduced instalment which I did and provided evidence of.... except on the morning of the eviction that I believed they were cancelling i couldnt get a coherent response from them and the next thing I knew the Bailiff was at my door and I was given 10 minutes to pack my belongings. I took everything they said at face value and trusted them to adhere to the arrangements that I had stuck to. The result was that myself and my children were left homeless.
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